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Green Business

Green Wealden

Wealden District Council is developing a District wide approach to encouraging and promoting:

Green Enterprise through sustainable business growth

Sustainable Development

Our Green Wealden objectives include:

To encourage, promote, assess and reward sustainable Green Enterprise initiatives and development within Wealden

To promote Sustainable Development throughout the District

Green Enterprise

Wealden District Council is working with the local business community to encourage Green Enterprise, assisting potential businesses and other developments to achieve the highest standards of sustainability in bringing forward green ideas for growth; and seeking examples of local initiatives and Green Entrepreneurs to champion and further this approach.

If you consider your business to be a green business or are a business interested in developing a green business plan for growth, please contact the Community & Regeneration Team using the contact details at the bottom of the page.

Sustainable Development

The Council is keen to support sustainable development and economic growth across Wealden in line with the UK Sustainable Development Strategy: Securing the Future - which highlights five guiding principles of sustainable development including:

living within the planet's environmental limits

ensuring a strong, healthy and just society

achieving a sustainable economy

promoting good governance

using sound science responsibly

The Wealden Sustainability Appraisal Framework is formed around the application of 22 sustainability objectives (economic, social and environmental) that have been used to date, to inform and assess Policy making through the Local Plan process, starting with our Core Strategy. This Framework also informs the planning application process to ensure balanced development;

"Planning is a balancing act, which requires consideration of the preservation, use and development of land for this and future generations, within the context of agreed social, environmental and economic needs. Inevitably, there is often disagreement among competing interests on the best use of the same land, and the planning system must resolve such conflicts. Hard decisions have to be made and the National Planning Policy Framework has to provide the framework to get the balance right."

Source: Communities and Local Government Committee - Eighth Report, The National Planning Policy Framework, 15 December 2011.

The Green Growth Platform supports environmental businesses and businesses wishing to reduce their environmental impact in Sussex via a series of services. These include 1-2-1 support, business events, support to develop new products and services, access to academic expertise, funding, student placements, internships and projects.

The LoCASE (Growing the Low Carbon Economy Across the South East) programme is a unique opportunity for small to medium sized businesses in East Sussex to improve their energy efficiency and overall performance. With FREE energy audits and grant funding of up to £10,000 businesses can cut overheads, gain a competitive edge and enhance the brand. Carbon Smart has been selected by East Sussex County Council to deliver this project. To be eligible, your business must be located in East Sussex and pay business rates to Eastbourne Borough Council, Hastings Borough Council, Lewes District Council, Rother District Council or Wealden District Council.

LoCASE is an £8.8 million project to drive green business growth across East Sussex, Kent and Essex. it is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.

Grow your business with the help of business growth grants, energy efficiency grants and business growth support. Optimise resource use and adopt low carbon solutions. Find out more from LoCASE (external link)

The Carbon Trust Green Business fund is a brand new energy efficiency support service for small and medium-sized companies in England, Wales & Scotland. It provides direct funded support through energy assessments, training workshops, equipment procurement support and up to £10,000 capital contribution per company towards energy saving equipment purchase. For further details visit The Carbon Trust Green Business Fund (external link)